The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter seventy-two: Step by step

Of course, Taeyong couldn't tell her that.
He most definitely would risk his life for Iseul, without a doubt. But that didn't mean he wanted her to do the same.

"You don't understand-" he began, only to be interrupted by Iseul.

"On the contrary, I really do. Trust me, I hate the idea of you putting yourself in danger too, but I know I won't be able to stop it from happening. You need to understand that, as unsettling as it is, you cannot control everything in your life."

He put away a strand of hair from her face and sighed.

"You said it yourself, Taeyong, you need to stop pushing me away. I think that accepting my love for you, regardless of how I express it, is a good way to start, don't you agree?"

Taeyong let out a dry chuckle, "Yes, well, if you could avoid proving your love by taking a bullet, I'd be grateful."

"Taeyong..."

"Fine, fine. I understand where you come from, as I would have done the same for you. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Iseul smiled, "I'll take that as a small victory," she said. "See, it's not so hard to compromise. Step by step."

"Step by step," he repeated.

They stopped talking for a little while, both of them lost in their thoughts. Taeyong was reflecting Iseul's words carefully. He knew she was right. He needed to trust her. To trust that she could take care of herself.

But the memory of his brother kept coming back to his mind. Like a ghost haunting him.

When Kang Min-Ju had dragged Iseul away and left him and Park in the small office, Taeyong had knocked his brother off to run after them. Getting Iseul back was more important to him than his revenge.
He would kill his brother, eventually.

Taeyong sighed.

"He was right, you know..." he began.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Minseok."

It was the first time Iseul heard Taeyong call his brother by his first name. She wasn't sure she knew what to get from that.

"About what?"

Her question was genuine. She had no clue what this psychopath could have said that would actually make sense.

"You were already in danger before with the gangs out there who wanted to use you as leverage, but now that..."

Taeyong cut himself off, as if he unable to word out the rest of his sentence. His eyes became distant, and he looked away.

"Now that what?"

When he didn't respond, Iseul insisted. "Taeyong?"

"I'm sorry Iseul, but... your mother-"

He didn't need to say it, Iseul instantly knew what he meant. Something inside her broke.

"H-How?" she managed to ask, tears forming in her eyes.

Taeyong pressed her thigh, "Park killed her."

He spoke softly, as if he was scared to see the girl in front of him break for good. She had lost her father before, but it had been from her own hand. Somehow, that seemed less devastating than to lose the one parent she wished she could have saved.

Iseul had grown very distant from her mother ever since the 'incident' with her father. She had left her daughter behind, after all.

She also tried to take Iseul away from NCT against her will, not caring for one second about her wishes.